1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to heading covering products and their methods of application and in particular, to an apparatus and method for a head covering that can be selectively employed to retain and contain the hair of a wearer.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many head coverings on the market today, the most popular being the du-rag. While this head covering is widely used, the du-rag is not designed to hold long hair in place, rather to lie over the hair. After an extensive patent search, we have found the following patents to be relative to the Locks Down disclosure. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,096,510, 6,738,986, 6,735,783, 5,878,756, D135,323 and D482,843.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,510 to Yeadon (2004) teaches a head covering that has a three-sectioned hemispheric crown. The sections of the crown include a headband 6, securing ties 7, and a center section 3 that includes a flap extending over the neck 2. The flap extending over the neck 2 is an extension or pouch 8 form the back of the head down the neck. The pouch 8 received the long hair of the wearer. An elastic opening 10 secures the inner wall around the hair as shown in FIGS. 1-3 of the reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,738,986 to Martin (2004) teaches a head covering made from a single piece of material. A central top seam forms a hemispheric cap portion and a fold 36 and the securing of the edges 34 and 32 form a pouch portion. Tie members 38 and 40 are linear vertical strips of material that are integrally connected to and extend downward from the bottom front of the cap portion. Tie members 38 and 40 also have an inner edge formed from cut outs 55 (see col. 3, lines 40-51).
This head covering claims a tail compartment where there is a closure to store things in, it also claims that hair could be tucked into this compartment. This demonstrates that our method of application is inconsistent with and could not be used on this head covering. Also, this reference teaches the use of the head covering during underwater/aquatic uses such as swimming. In contrast, the present disclosure is a stylish fashion hair accessory.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,756 to Bilodeau (1999) teaches a cap with a hollow hemispherical configuration. The lower peripheral edge has a thin rectangular band 16 mounted thereon. Band 16 has a pair of free end 18 that extend from a rear extent of the cap, selectively tie and secure the cap to the head of the user. A hair sleeve 20 is an elongated strip 22 of flexible cloth that is connected to the cap. Hair sleeve 20 has four equally spaced pairs of rectangular tabs 24 that extend perpendicularly from the longitudinal side edges of the hair sleeve 20. Tubular sleeve 26 can thus receive and pass through the hair of the wearer. In contrast to the present disclosure, this head covering has a sleeve that ties around the long hair of the wearer and thus cannot employ the method of applying the head covering of the present disclosure.
U.S. Pat. No. D482,843 to Burnett (2003) shows triangular shaped head covering that is folded to define ties that can connect in the front or back of the head. A pouch is also shown that receives, or as claimed retains the wearer's hair. This head-covering patent claims the ornamental design for a scarf and headwear with packet for retaining hair.